(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on February 14, 2026)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the sixth week of 2026 I lived at ISKCON Tallahassee, just a five-minute walk from Florida State University. I chanted on the campus every day of the week for an average of three hours. I always meet a few students attracted by the chanting of Hare Krishna, the halava, and Srila Prabhupada’s books. This week Gopi Jivana Prabhu and his wife Tulasyananda Devi Dasi, based at Krishna House in Gainesville, distributed books at three Tallahassee colleges during four days, coming out to FSU twice, and getting many students to sign up for the WhatsApp group of our club.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, and Light of the Bhagavata, as well as his lectures, conversations, and letters. I share quotes from previous spiritual teachers, including Sri Sankara, Sanatana Goswami, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura. I share quotes from Alligators Says and I Say by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and from The Vanaprastha Adventure by Jayadvaita Swami. I share quotes from Back to Godhead magazine articles by Caitanya Carana, Gauranga Darsana, Brajanatha, and Mahabhagavata Prabhus.
Many thanks to Ananga Mohan Prabhu for taking us to Railroad Square for the First Friday harinama. Thanks to Gopi Jivana Prabhu for the nice photo of us and for getting interested students to sign up for our FSU Bhakti Yoga club mailings.
Itinerary
January 12–mid April: harinama and college outreach in Tallahassee and Tampa
– March 14: Daytona Ratha-yatra
– March 15: Deland Holi Festival
– March 16–22: NYC Harinam
– March 21: Bhagavad-gita class at 26 Second Avenue
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
Friday, February 6, was the appearance anniversary of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I know Srila Prabhupada wants us to celebrate that day, but we only have two initiated devotees in the temple. We decided to do puspanjali and arati for Bhaktisiddhanata, with Ananga Mohan Prabhu doing a surprisingly good job of singing “Gurvastakam” to the midday melody. We did not have a separate photo of Bhaktisiddhanata, so Ananga used one he found online. The devotional lady from Mathura living next door joined us with her two kids. The kirtan was unbelievably ecstatic, and I think that was because Srila Prabhupada was pleased that we did something to celebrate.
We chanted Hare Krishna for a little over an hour at First Friday in Tallahassee with a party of four devotees. I was amazed that eleven people played the shakers and danced with us. Two people accepted the halava, and two took “On Chanting Hare Krishna.” That was the best turnout of devotees we have had at First Friday in a while. Years ago we would drive all the way from Krishna House in Gainesville with a van full of devotees to participate in that event.
Here I chant Hare Krishna at First Friday in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/S4-0897t8tk?feature=share):
Later a guy danced as I was chanting (https://youtu.be/J6raTmPciP8):
Here Sindhu chants Hare Krishna at the ISKCON Tallahassee Saturday program (https://youtu.be/MCCUfiryS6E):
Here is a video of her with a landscape view (https://youtu.be/whPaX3NISAc):
Ananga Mohan Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there too (https://youtube.com/shorts/2b6jYAATSc8):
Keshava Gopal Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at the Tallahassee Saturday Program during the Gaura Arati (https://youtube.com/shorts/J29j8gUA8AA):
During the week I had a few positive interactions.
One student donated a flower which I offered at the morning arati the next day.
Another student said, “I like hearing you sing on my way to class. I turn down my music, so I can hear you.”
An art professor, who glanced at the books the previous week and thanked me for coming out, gave $7 for a Higher Taste as a present for his wife’s birthday.
Here Gopi Jivana Prabhu and his wife Tulasyananda Devi Dasi sing an evening Hare Krishna kirtan at the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/wwqXCBkVDHQ):
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.13.43:
“As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.18.13:
“The value of a moment’s association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.21.22, purport:
“The sound of the holy name—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare—everlastingly increases the enthusiasm of the chanter.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.14.6:
“When friends, children, parents, brothers, or other such people suggest how one should live, one should externally agree, saying, ‘Yes, that is all right,’ but internally one should be determined not to create a cumbersome life in which life’s purpose will not be fulfilled.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.19.27–28:
“Thereafter, Devayani, the daughter of Sukracarya, understood that the materialistic association of husband, friends and relatives is like the association in a hotel full of tourists. The relationships of society, friendship and love are created by the maya of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly as in a dream. By the grace of Krishna, Devayani gave up her imaginary position in the material world. Completely fixing her mind upon Krishna, she achieved liberation from the gross and subtle bodies.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.37, purport, quoted from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 25.138, purport:
“When the living entity is attracted by the material energy, which is separate from Krishna, he is overpowered by fear. Because he is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the material energy, his conception of life is reversed. In other words, instead of being the eternal servant of Krishna, he becomes Krishna’s competitor. This is called viparyayo ’smrtih. To nullify this mistake, one who is actually learned and advanced worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his spiritual master, worshipful Deity and source of life. He thus worships the Lord by the process of unalloyed devotional service.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 20.120:
“If the conditioned soul becomes Krishna conscious by the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and help him to become Krishna conscious, the conditioned soul is liberated from the clutches of maya, who gives him up.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 16.108–112:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘These ingredients, such as sugar, camphor, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, butter, spices and licorice, are all material. Everyone has tasted these material substances before.’
‘However,’ the Lord continued, ‘in these ingredients there are extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances. Just taste them and see the difference in the experience. Apart from the taste, even the fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget any other sweetness besides its own. Therefore, it is to be understood that the spiritual nectar of Krishna’s lips has touched these ordinary ingredients and transferred to them all their spiritual qualities.’”
From Light of the Bhagavata, verse 19:
“We should always remember that the society, friendship, only shadowy representations of the real society, friendship, and love reciprocated in the kingdom of God. There is no reality in the conditioned life of material existence, but because of our ignorance we are attached to the mirage. The idea of society, friendship, and love is not at all false, but the place where we search for it is false. We have to give up this false position and rise to the reality. That should be the aim of life, and that is the result of cultivating the human spirit.”
From Light of the Bhagavata, verse 37:
“According to the varnasrama principle, it is compulsory that one retire after the age of fifty, without considering other circumstances. Business offices close at a fixed hour no matter what balance of work remains. Similarly, after the age of fifty one must retire from the active, external life and devote oneself to the introspective cultivation of the human spirit.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.8–9 in New Vrindaban on May 24, 1969:
“The whole world is problem for ordinary persons, but to us it is not problem. Because we see everything Krishna’s. If there is problem, it is Krishna’s problem. Why my problem? Krishna can know how to solve problem. So we have no problem practically. Krishna’s problem. Krishna will see to it.
“Just like Arjuna was encouraged that nimitta-matram bhava savyasacin: ‘You don’t worry about your victory. I have already arranged.’”
“So we should have such faith and conviction and let us try. Let us do very sincerely and seriously. Then everything Krishna will do. I haven’t got to do anything.”
From “Take the Mercy” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
[An edited transcript of a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.37 in New York City on December 2, 1966.]
“Only the foolish ‘advanced, civilized’ man is troubled, because for sense gratification he is misusing his intelligence, which was given to him for realization of God. That is the whole problem. All the world’s problems are due to man’s having forgotten the protection of Krishna, God. They think, ‘By this adjustment we shall be able to protect ourselves.’ Nonsense. It is not possible. Can you protect yourself from death? No. Then what is your protection?”
“Dvitiya means a secondary existence beyond God. In the Bible it is called Satan.”
“And as soon as I understand, ‘I am pure spirit soul, part and parcel of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, He is giving me all protection, and my duty is to love and serve Him,’ then I am free. At once I am free. This is the simple formula.”
“Why should you be anxious? Krishna will take a hundred pounds of flour, a hundred pounds of rice, and deliver them to you. Just be Krishna conscious. In an ordinary home you don’t find more than five pounds. You’ll see in our stock here in this temple, all hundred-pound sacks.”
“And we have to take that mercy. Suppose a man has fallen into a pit and he’s trying to come out and another man drops a rope. ‘Please catch it. I shall take you out of the pit.’ If he does not catch it, then how can he be taken out? So sadhu [the saints] and sastra [the scripture] are always ready to give you mercy, but you have to take it. If you don’t accept it, then how can you recover?”
“To get a job, I flatter so many people and put in my application, but for my deliverance from the material bondage, I don’t care. ‘No, I am not going to submit to anyone. I don’t require that.’”
From Room Conversation in Bombay on April 15, 1977:
“Every one of us [can be a] messiah. Anyone Krishna conscious, he’s the messiah. Every one. Why one? All of us. . . . The devotee of Lord Caitanya – every one has such immense power that every one can deliver the whole universe.”
From a class in Los Angeles on Bhagavad-gita 6.1 on February 13, 1969:
“Devotee: ‘What is recreation for a Krishna conscious person?’
Prabhupada: ‘Recreation? Dancing. [laughter] Come on, dance with us. Is it not recreation? And when you get tired, take prasadam. Do you want more recreation than this? What is your answer? Is it not recreation?’”
Letter to Yamuna and Dinatarine on January 13, 1976:
“It is better that you don’t make a large program. Remain a humble program. In bhakti there is no grotesque program. A humble program is better. We are doing all these grotesque programs to allure the masses. My Guru Maharaja used to say that no one hears from a person coming from a humble, simple life. You remain always very humble.” [By grotesque here, Srila Prabhupada apparently means something along the lines of extravagant. — Jayadvaita Swami]
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Alligators Says and I Say:
“Trust in Krishna doesn’t mean I believe that I must be 100% right and my enemy 100% wrong and Krishna will prove that. No—but trust that Krishna as kala is making the drama occur and it will eventually turn out best—I may be corrected or my enemy may be corrected or both of us. It’s Krishna who is right and will demonstrate truth.”
“So mostly I write for readers who already accept Krishna as God and Krishna consciousness as their religion, but plenty of problems remain for us.”
“We are united by these questions. How can we go on in ISKCON after the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada? How can we be united? Whom can we trust. Can we ourselves become trustworthy? Will we be able to attain a taste for chanting and hearing? Can we overcome material desires? Why don’t we sacrifice more and preach to save the conditioned souls?”
“I want to do this one so I can also do the one after this even better, or at least I can keep doing them.”
“As for the wider world (so-called) I can’t claim I am an active member nor can I claim I have no connection with it.”
“Blacks are being accepted and gays . . . but the message of Krishna consciousness is left outside, cult beliefs they say. Is it a cult belief that we are not this body, that the temporary and miserable world is taken by most people as the all-in-all?”
“Don’t let a day go without writing. Do it your way in your own voice, bring happiness to others and help them. The honesty and love for your service which they’ll find in your writing will be helpful to them.”
Sri Sankara:
From Padyavali, verse 45:
“May Lord Madhava’s pastimes, which bring a sense-pleasure stronger than that experienced by the hedonists, a liberation more real than that felt by the yogis in their hearts, and a bliss more intense than that tasted by the most expert drinkers of nectar, protect you.”
Sanatana Goswami:
From Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta 2.3.184:
[The Vaikuntha-dutas say:] ‘Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.’”
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From “Nadiya Godrume Nityananda Mahajana,” verse 4:
“The showing of compassion to other souls by loudly chanting the holy name of Krishna is the essence of all forms of religion.”
The humble servants of Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.17.44
[Lord Krishna says to Uddhava:] “Just as a ship rescues people fallen into the ocean, I quickly rescue from all calamities those persons who uplift a brahmana or devotee dedicated to me but suffering poverty.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.12.48:
“When people properly glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead or simply hear about His power, the Lord personally enters their hearts and cleanses away every trace of misfortune, just as the sun removes the darkness or as a powerful wind drives away the clouds.”
Jayadvaita Swami:
From The Vanaprastha Adventure:
“Srila Prabhupada built the Krishna-Balarama Guest House particularly with retired people in mind (Srila Prabhupada was displeased to see the guest house used for other purposes and filled with women and children.) ‘Vrindaban is meant for retirement[;] elderly persons in Krishna Consciousness can devote all their time to devotional service. Such men are wanted to live in Vrindaban, not women and children.’” (Letter to Gopal Krishna, June 9, 1976)
“When we accept assistance from women, we may develop an emotional dependency on them, thinking we are ‘engaging them in service’ but not realizing what is happening. Detachment from women—all women—and attachment to Krishna is the theme of vanaprastha life. Attachment to Krishna can more than fulfill all our emotional needs.”
“Keep your computer off in the morning until you’ve completed your sadhana. Let that time be entirely for hearing and chanting and direct devotional activities.”
“If you can reserve sadhana time in the evening the same way, so much the better.”
“Limit your use of the phone. Again, keep it off during your sadhana time— preferably even in another room. When it’s on, turn off needless notifications. If you have apps you can do without, uninstall them. Delete all games. Cancel mundane subscriptions. Consider replacing some apps with pen and paper. Don’t waste time with idle messages and talk. As far as possible, stay offline.”
“Materially speaking, in terms of practical risk-assessment we should be prudent and realistic. Ultimately, though, there’s no risk. Krishna will maintain us, and Krishna will protect us. In that sense, all risks are imaginary.”
“ According to the sastras, our essential duty to our children is not to send them to college but to send them back to Godhead, in this way saving them from the clutches of repeated birth and death.”
“For a year and a half in 1985 and 1986 I had the good fortune to travel throughout South India with an ISKCON “sankirtana padayatra” to mark the five-hundredth anniversary of the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Whatever else was going on in ISKCON—or the rest of the world—we were distant from it, chanting Hare Krishna and walking down the road, fifteen or twenty-five kilometers a day, from city to city, village to village, stopping every evening to put on a spiritual program and have some rest and then leaving again the next morning. Looking back, I think of my time on padayatra as one of the spiritually most rewarding times in my life.”
“We can write. We can write for Back to Godhead, for other Krishna conscious or secular magazines, for internet websites, devotional or not. We can write letters to newspapers. (A secret: Newspapers, magazines, websites, and other media outlets need content.) Or we can write letters to public leaders (as Srila Prabhupada did). We can write books. There’s no end to the opportunities.”
“Sometimes a woman more detached than her husband may encourage progress from family life to the vanaprastha ashram. In this way too a woman can render a great service.”
“And sannyasis too, though often addressed as ‘Maharaja,’ should not live like kings at the expense of the householders.”
“If we want to have a social system that includes vanaprasthas, or if we want to become vanaprasthas ourselves when the time comes, then the grhasthas need to support the vanaprasthas, and the vanaprasthas need to live simply.”
“The grhasthas should think, ‘It’s our duty to maintain the vanaprasthas.’ But the vanaprasthas should think, ‘It’s our duty to depend on Krishna. Ultimately it’s Krishna who will maintain me.’”
“Krishna himself shows respect for elderly persons, and this is one of the qualities of Krishna that stimulates love for him.”
“The strongest of all attachments, of course, is attachment to sex. Even in old age, when sex is more pitiable than pleasurable, one may still be attached to it.”
“If unlike Yayati and Devayani we wanted to marry but a suitable opportunity never arose, in our fifties or later we may still cherish the illusion that we will be happy if only we can find the right marital partner. Better for us to accept that in this lifetime grhastha life is not providentially ordained and move on.”
“The inconveniences of vanaprastha life are small compared to what Srila Prabhupada sometimes called the ‘inconveniences’ of birth, death, old age, and disease. And by leaving family life one makes progress on the path towards happiness that is eternal and unlimited. One is therefore advised to voluntarily accept whatever inconveniences vanaprastha life may entail.”
“The Gosvamis were mostly wealthy. By modern standards, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, and Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami were multimillionaires. But at the mature stage they gave everything up to go to Vrndavana and live as beggars. And in that way they became immensely enriched in devotional life and gave immense riches to us.”
“ But that we’ve entered the grhastha asrama late doesn’t mean we must be late to become vanaprasthas. Old age and death are unlikely to hold off to give us extra time. So, like everyone else, devotees who have gotten a late start are best advised to keep their upcoming death in view—and act accordingly.”
“We might think, ‘Maybe some devotees can chant and hear and read all day. But I can’t. So if I became a vanaprastha, what would I do all day? I would be bored.’ But although the vanaprastha asrama affords an opportunity to do more hearing, chanting, and reading, for a vanaprastha these are not the only engagements. We see that Srila Prabhupada, even as a sannyasi, undertook a full range of active engagements—preaching, writing, raising funds, publishing, building temples, worshiping the Deities, developing projects, guiding followers, and more.”
Caitanya Carana Prabhu:
From “Q&A” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
“Whatever talents, abilities, and resources we have are God’s gift to us, and when, in a mood of service to Him, we develop them to become better, that is our gift to God.”
From “Tataka: Lord Rama’s First Martial – and Moral – Challenge” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
“If a venomous snake were prowling in our house, we would hardly consider the snake’s gender while deciding how to respond. Similar was the case with the demonic attack on humans.”
“Of course, Rama is God and is omniscient; He doesn’t need to learn anything. Yet from another perspective, He descends to play the role of an ideal human being. Thus, He demonstrates how He learns and how He applies what He has learned. Rama was guided by His mentor Visvamitra, who helped Him see beyond appearance to substance, beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law, beyond group identity to core mentality. To similarly deepen our vision, we too need mentors.”
Gauranga Darsana Prabhu:
From “Seven Effects of Sri Krishna Sankirtana” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
“When we’re young, our parents are the closest to us. As we grow a little older, friends and classmates may take that place. Later in life, it’s our spouses, children, and colleagues who feel closest. Throughout life, the people closest to us change as we grow. But one person stays with us no matter our age – and no matter whether we’re in a human or nonhuman form. One person remains by our side in every stage of life, in every circumstance, and never leaves us. This faithful companion is the Paramatma, the Supreme Lord who resides in our heart. Relatives may leave, friends may drift away, and even our own body will eventually fail us. But Krishna, the Paramatma, never abandons us. He is our eternal companion.”
Brajanatha Prabhu:
From “Four Exemplary Vaishnavas” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
“As Srila Prabhupada has explained, Bhisma’s siding against Krishna and Arjuna was meant to convey a vital truth: no matter how much power we possess, defeat is unavoidable if we oppose Krishna.”
Mahabhagavata Prabhu:
From “Harnessing the Power of Spiritual Suggestions” in Back to Godhead, Volume 60, Number 2 (Mar/Apr 2026):
“Advertisers invest vast resources to plant suggestions to encourage materialistic consumption. Devotees should likewise invest in planting suggestions – liberating ones. The holy names of Krishna, His instructions, and the spiritual sound vibrations that awaken the heart from its materialistic slumber should be carefully and repeatedly suggested to all jivas.”
Naradiya Purana: “‘One who loudly chants the holy names of the Lord is a hundred times greater than one who silently chants, because those who chant silently purify only themselves, while those who chant loudly purify themselves as well as those who hear them.’”
“My spiritual master, Sankarsana Dasa, advises, ‘From four to nine in the morning, save yourself; then from nine to nine, save the world.’”
“answer spiritual queries in forums”
“maintain a website offering reliable devotional resources”
“The transcendental holy name, when repeatedly encountered in various ways – heard from a devotee on the street, glimpsed on a book cover, recalled from a melody – gradually transforms the heart. Each spiritual encounter, even if seemingly casual, is a drop of spiritual nectar in the desert of material life. This is why book distribution, regular kirtana, and small acts of public devotion are not mere rituals or personal preferences; they are spiritual technologies aimed at awakening dormant love of Krishna.”
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Krishna lists what He considers to be knowledge in Bhagavad-gita 13.8–12. One item is:
janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-
“the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease” (Bhagavad-gita 13.9).
I have repeated this list of four miseries in classes for decades, but it’s just been in the last few years, taking care of my guru and my mother, who were suffering from disease and old age, and experiencing my own suffering due to the onset of old age, that I am realizing that these are the actual miseries. When I was younger, I was disturbed by so many less important things that the reality of these four being the actual miseries did not really sink in.
